Day 4 - Cusco to Blue Lagoon

Itinerary

Morning Pickup from Hotel Monasterio @ 7:00 AM, Trek 2 hours to visit Kiswarani Community, Trek 1.5 hours to First Camp at Blue Lagoon @ 12,795 ft

Total Trek Distance: 6.2 miles

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Journal Entry ~ Sally Stanfill

After a restless night of waking up almost every hour we woke early to pack up our rooms and set our ready duffles outside the door to be picked up and taken to the bus (the level of detail of care on this trip is unmatched)! Soft chanting music greeted us at breakfast - the breakfast, wow. A true work of art and beauty. Celebrated Leigh’s birthday with singing and chocolate breakfast cake. She forgot it was her bday! It wasn’t until her daughter texted her saying “happy birthday a day early” that we realized it’s tomorrow 😂 we don’t know what day it is!

We hopped on the bus and said goodbye to our dreamy hotel with hot water and clean sheets and fluffy pillows you can order off a pillow menu. Hard to leave that luxury but onto the adventure that brought so many of us here.

The bus ride to the market was short and curvy and car sickness was arriving but we made it and bought some items for breakfast and to give to the local schools we will pass along the way. We hopped back on the bus and rode into the Andes. And through them. And down them. And around them. And over them. And it is nothing that should deter anyone else from coming on this trip in the future - but - sickness was had. The Dramamine and window seats and eyes fixed on the horizon and windows down and some stops for fresh air helped us survive and got us to where we needed to go to begin the trek.

Such an unassuming spot to pull off the road and hear Tina say “this is it!”

We unloaded and chatted and put sunscreen on and got our day packs all figured out. Then Javi whipped us into shape and we began. Javi leading us from the front and Yanelit the caboose. The altitude and incline hit us fairly quick. One step at a time. One foot in front of the other. Javi helped us practice breathing in, holding a moment, then focusing on the exhale. We began again. Steady pace. Resting. Watching our steps. Trying to remember to look up and take in the view. Stopping for pictures. Begin again. Resting. Water. Learning more about each others stories. Not in a hurry. Moving as a pack. So many metaphors for life.

We arrived to our lunch spot where we were greeted with purple juice in silver cups. The horsemen had set up a tent with a table, table cloth and silverware. Alice shared her cotillion tip for the meal: napkin in your lap right as you sit down - and an ornate napkin is waiting for us and chairs for each of us. Renee asks, “What’s one cotillion truth you wish women knew and did?” Alice thinks a moment, “Be confident and proud of your femineness. Be a lady. If a gentleman is honoring you by doing something for you that you could do yourself - accept and receive it. Let him be a gentlemen. Let yourself be a lady.” Hot delicious soup was served with garlic bread. The garlic bread gave us a giggle. But everything is so delicious. Next was salad with mango and oranges. Avocado with something delicious drizzled on top. Freshly caught trout wrapped around veggies. Fried Potatoes. Rice. Everything is top notch. We thought soup was the whole lunch and that would have been enough! But the generosity and beauty of overflow is such a special part of this trip. Next we laid in the sun and napped for a while. Tina buys a cute ear warmer headband and says “I don’t need anything. But when do I ever buy anything out of need.” The horsemen packed up all the lunch tents and supplies and began their run up the mountain with the mules that carried all our things. The next stretch of the hike was longer and we took it slow. One step at a time again. Higher. Resting. Water. Pictures. Begin again. Slow. Steady. Rest. Help and care for one another by matching their pace by carrying their pack. We are not in a hurry. We are together.

We made it to the 7 waterfalls. Walking alongside different companions. Sometimes side by side. Sometimes in single line. Take in the waterfall and the noise and the beauty of the mountains and the sun peeking through. As we prepare to start hiking again the horses come up on the trail and we almost dont move out of the way in time. They are agitated or uncomfortable or spooked or racing. We do not know. But the horsemen do. The horses know their voice and their touch. There is also a woman carrying a load of our survival on her back. We begin again. On the same team. At the same pace together. We are not in a hurry. We slow. We stop. We start. We share. We learn. We make our way up up up to the place where we will camp for the night. It is all set up for us. Amazing. Alice and I buy some gloves from some ladies who have set up their items at our campground. We go to the lake and Rebecca and Amanda go sit on a boat by the water. We talk and warm ourselves tucked in a nook from the wind. Javi gives us a bathroom tutorial. Pulls the handle out to show us and it comes all the way out. Oops.

We go to our tents and put on warm clothes for the rest of the night. They bring us hot water to wash our hands and faces. In the dinner tent we meet with hand warmers and hot tea and hot chocolate and popcorn and crackers. Renee leads us through Lectio Examen with another beautiful painting from Avery. This one of a girl who is pensive and perhaps sad and reflecting with her hand in her chin as she gazes somewhere other than here. We think about moments today where we felt the nearness of the Lord and also where we didn’t. Then we picture Jesus in the moments we didn’t sense him. And we share. Leigh shares about others keeping in step to her pace and chanting to herself with each step “help me Jesus”. Mal shares about feeling so vulnerable and how awful a feeling that is - yet how beautiful it is to be loved and cared for and helped. Tears as Becca carried her pack. Becca shares about how sick she was on the bus and how Melissa was beside her and how she now sees Jesus sitting beside her on the bus too. All of us. Together. Step by step. Breath by breath. Jesus is here.

Melissa thanks those of us already doing it but reminds us to close the bathroom tent all the way even if tempted not to as a warning courtesy for the next person. And always close your tent as a courtesy for your tent mate as well. Keep that warmth contained.

We eat. Potato soup - it’s so hot and so delicious. There are so many varieties of potatoes in Peru. So always we eat potatoes at dinner. Alice shares her cotillion tip for the meal: if others are served hot food please tell them to go ahead and eat bc yours is coming. Next is potatoes with cheese inside and fried on the outside - A potato fritter if you will. Then chicken and veggies with potatoes. Rice and broccoli and carrots and cauliflower. We are stuffed. More hot tea and a breakdown of the day tomorrow from Javi. We will wake at 3am. He’s kidding. He will wake us at 4:50. It will be dark he says. We say “so we will wear our headlamps” he says “no it will be light. The sun rises at 730”. “So what time are we waking up?” Javi says “5”. “Do we need our poles?” we ask. Javi says “yes” “no” “it’s ok friends”. We are so confused. He is so smiley. We are dying laughing. He says “do not worry my friends. My good friends. Ok” Javi is the best. Tomorrow will be a long day. Cold. Unhurried but early to make sure we cover ground to get to lunch and dinner. We get our llama bladders full of hot water for our feet in our sleeping bags. We put them in our bellies as Javi continues to run thru tomorrow and ask who wants coffee.

Javi takes us outside to look at the stars. It’s amazing. We go to potty and we go to bed.

The journey is the destination. Amazing day.

So grateful,

Sally